1 More Saffa | The Coat and Badge and the Australians

Those precious two free nights and days are something that drive us through the week, the pending cold and the urge to check your bank balance. Friday was here and the weekend held before me a visit from two of my favourite travelling compadres.

After surviving five days of a work week, with my head in complete engage brain mode, it was finally time for the weekend. These are the times we find ourselves living for. Those precious two free nights and days are something that drive us through the week, the pending cold and the urge to check your bank balance. Friday was here and the weekend held before me a visit from two of my favourite travelling compadres.

I met Georgia and Tim on the epic sailing trip between Panama and Columbia. Crazy Captain Rudy’s catamaran, aptly named ‘African Queen’ was witness to seven Australians, one New Zealander and two South Africans; quickly discovering their taboo love for each other. Despite being trained to dislike inhabitants of these countries, the five days through the Caribbean waters of Panama quickly saw the forging of a natural friendship. As much as we force ourselves to dislike the Aussies and their ridiculous ability to test the skills of our prime sports, we seem to enjoy the same sense of humour and love for red meat. Georgia and Tim had recently moved to Nottingham and deciding to visit London for the weekend, our futon would rest them in preparation for a pub screening of the epic Southern Hemisphere battle between South Africa and Australia.

And a charismatic Australian male (resembling too much like ‘Alan’ from the Hangover)

The result:

Repeated consumption of back and forth banter;

A heavy and stodgy devouring of wine and beer;

The absolute necessity of a visit to the East Hill (to ensure the Coat and Badge was in fact its brother);

Your arms around your stomach to shield the cramps of laughter;

Your phone on record when Georgia decided she would take pictures of everyone in the pub using the excuse that she a diabetic (for some reason she believed this would encourage innocent bystanders that her photographs would be prize worthy);

And finally those Nurofen express gel tablets (every grocery store and off licence stocks them) to remember it all by.

A successful rugby afternoon; living up to its South African reputation. You can take the South Africans out of the Southern Hemisphere; but you cannot take the rituals out of their bones in any city.